Dune: Part Two

★★★★★

It may have only been a short few years ago, but it’s hard to remember a time when Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two” wasn’t a certainty. Without the safety net of a green-lit sequel, “Dune” opened in the fall of 2021 as a risky gamble; the first half of a sprawling sci-fi adaptation that had to prove its worth to audiences before being allowed to conclude its own story. Critical and financial underperformance would be a death-sentence. And there was certainly reason to worry. The most foundational piece of science fiction literature ever written is dense, political and morally complex, and a faithful adaptation would alienate moviegoers seeking light popcorn entertainment. But all fears were quickly put to rest. Villeneuve had promised the first part as an appetizer to what was to come, and by the end of its opening weekend he had been given the chance to deliver the full meal. And now it is here, and its very existence alone is a towering achievement.

“Dune: Part Two” picks up exactly where its predecessor left off. Following the death of his father and the destruction of House Atreides, Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) is taught the way of the Fremen as his road leads him deep into the deserts of Arrakis. With his mother Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) fanning the flames of his prophesied ascension to religious messiah, Paul forges a path of revenge against the Harkonnen that will lead him and the Fremen towards a future only he can see. 

This is the full meal, indeed. Denis Villeneuve’s film is a monumental, awe-inspiring behemoth. A Herculean feat of science fiction cinema that builds on the impressive scale of its predecessor while deepening its world and characters. And it comes from a firm understanding of the source material and its intents. The second half of Villeneuve’s cinematic adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel is imbued with a simmering darkness, a bubbling dread that poisons every frame of its superficial hero’s-journey veneer. Subverting its predecessor’s starry-eyed “chosen one” storytelling, “Dune: Part Two” is perhaps among the most viscerally bleak blockbusters ever made. A tale of manufactured destinies and the unstoppable force of religious belief. Of oppression and manipulation and the pursuit of power. I wonder how many viewers will overlook how most of these characters are very bad people.

In the world of “Dune: Part Two” there are the dictators and the dictated. The game, then, is in the shifting of the pieces on the board; how the subjects become the rulers and the leaders become the followers. As Jessica maneuvers to a position of power and influence among the Fremen people, their leader Stilgar (Javier Bardem) becomes consumed with belief in the holy saviour he sees in Paul. Chani (Zendaya) isn’t so convinced. Meanwhile, there exists a tapestry of politics beyond Arrakis, as the ruthless Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) puppeteers his brutish nephew Rabban (Dave Bautista) and the cruel Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler), and the scheming Bene Gesserit witches sew seeds of future plans in the Emperor (Christopher Walken) and his daughter Princess Irulan (Florence Pugh). Who’s really in control here? What marks the difference between a figurehead who seeks to lead and one who is called to it? What does power mean when it is this malleable? Being “the chosen one” feels like a tragedy.

And the fact that all this thematic complexity and uncertainty is packaged in bombastic spectacle and breathtakingly transportive imagery is the true magic trick at work. Already firmly established as the most prominent voice in contemporary sci-fi cinema, Denis Villeneuve reasserts his claim to the throne with arguably the greatest science fiction blockbuster of the twenty-first century. It is massive in scale and vast in scope. Colossal gladiator arenas, expansive desert plains and grand ceremonial halls make tiny specs out of the people in frame. Enormous ships descend into orbit like moons crashing to the planet’s surface. A rolling sea of people dot the screen from overhead like an impressionist painting, as Paul wades through his Fremen devotees. The film’s world-building is effortless and unrelenting; its efficiency and subtlety in communicating new terms and concepts is remarkable, as is its restraint in not over-explaining. There is room for imagination, room to infer and wonder and see this universe as one that continues beyond the edges of the frame. It’s so fully realized, and Villeneuve handles it all with grandiose sincerity. 

Much of the credit must rightfully go to two names in particular: Greig Fraser and Hans Zimmer. What Fraser accomplishes here visually goes beyond his masterful work on Villeneuve’s first “Dune” picture, finding expansive richness in both sweeping landscapes and subjective close-ups. His work manages to maintain the aesthetic qualities of the first film in a way that allows both films to naturally bleed together, while also imbuing this second chapter with a dark intensity that echoes the story’s ominous foreboding. Hans Zimmer, meanwhile, builds upon the sound of “Dune” with a complex, nuanced score that is in many ways more layered than his first. His big, pulsing sounds don’t announce spectacle the same way it did in 2021, rather Zimmer holds back the sonic magnitude for key moments of significance. A new theme representative of the relationship between Paul and Chani runs as a current underneath the film, and it is one of the most affecting and rousing pieces of music the composer has brought to the world of Arrakis.

But it is Timothée Chalamet who carries “Dune: Part Two” to its highest peaks. In what can only be described as the best performance of the actor’s career, he personifies Paul Atreides in his boyish charms and quiet assuredness, until the film shifts in its second half and Chalamet transforms into something intensely fanatical. Other memorable performances come from Zendaya, who serves as the film’s emotional core, Rebecca Ferguson, who is chilling in her conniving lever-pulling, and Javier Bardem, whose obsessive faith is a source of both unease and humour. The most striking performance, however, comes from Austin Butler, whose scene-stealing transformation into the cunning Feyd-Rautha is wonderfully sadistic and utterly captivating.

As an adaptation, Villeneuve remains steadfastly faithful to the spirit of the novel, while inventing and innovating to fit the structure of his film. Those looking for a carbon copy of the text may feel let down by many of the changes and omissions here, but it is all in service of something greater. The manner in which the film reworks story elements and integrates them into the tone and style of Villeneuve’s world is remarkable, particularly when it comes to some of the stranger elements of Herbert’s novel. In a few cases, changes serve as improvements over the source material, and some serve as foundation-setting for Villeneuve’s inevitable trilogy-closer, “Dune: Messiah.” But by and large the film maintains the novel’s explorations of religion and politics, of oppressors and tyrants. The ones we choose and the ones chosen for us. “He who can destroy a thing has the real control of it,” Paul says. Truer words have never been spoken.

Put simply, “Dune: Part Two” is a miracle of the form. A reminder of why we go to the movies. What we look for when we say we want to be transported. It’s engrossing, moving, rousing. Like a shot of adrenaline to the system, it is everything Denis Villeneuve promised three years ago, and more. It’s the film “Dune” was merely a prelude to, the action-packed epic Paul’s visions told us to prepare for. It’s among the most awe-inspiring, audacious science-fiction films ever made, and at every moment I felt privileged just to be alive at the same time as it. It’s bigger and more ambitious, artistically and narratively, and has a firm place in the pantheon of excellent film sequels. With both “Dune” and “Dune: Part Two,” Denis Villeneuve has crafted the quintessential Dune adaptation. Expansive, richly detailed, methodical in pace and monumental in scale. If this one needs to “prove its worth” for a “Messiah” green-light, it should have no trouble.